Economy

Vermont's econonomy outperformed the U.S. during the past 12 months, with tax revenues that exceeded projections by 2.5%.  Nevertheless, state economists cautioned the legislature and administration of the risks here in Vermont should national policy makers fail to reach an agreement about raising the U.S. debt ceiling. 

The pre-application deadline for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development's (HUD) Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP) is coming soon.

Homeowners who want to be considered for mortgage assistance need to complete the pre-application screening materials by July 22.

Proposed mortgage lending rules being considered by federal regulators are drawing fire from a variety of players in the housing industry.

Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a series of "town meetings" on the economy and federal budget priorities.

He hopes to discuss ways to prevent cuts to programs that benefit Vermont's working families.

The Vermont Economy Newsletter released its annual housing affordability analysis yesterday.

Art Woolf, the report's author, states

The recovery is progressing well for the U.S. and Vermont, according to presenters at the Vermont Economic Outlook Conference last Friday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, listed five reasons he expected the economy to continue improving well:

According to a new report from the Center for Housing Policy, affordable housing development drives local economic growth.

The report cites National Association of Home Builders estimates that building 100 new Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units for families can lead to the creation of more than 120 jobs during the construction phase.

Last week, Vermont joined other states in examining complaints some mortgage firms have engaged in questionable practices during foreclosure proceedings.

At the center of the investigation is "robo-signing," when mortgage service employees with no knowledge of a particular case sign foreclosure documents.

VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter appeared in a news segment aired by Vermont Public Radio yesterday and today about the Agency's low delinquency and foreclosure rates.

Read the transcript online.

Recent analysis of VHFA home loan data shows delinquency and foreclosure rates of VHFA mortgages were considerably lower than rates for Vermont and the nation.

As of June 30, 2010, VHFA home loans that were delinquent by 90 or more days were just 0.94% of all the Agency’s outstanding loans. Vermont’s rate was more than twice as high: 2.05%. The national rate was 4.54%.